Craig Scott: The last of a dying breed of local fastpitch softball players

Ashlander Craig Scott doesn't necessarily consider himself the last of a dying breed. However, he's one of the very few players still lacing up his spikes and donning a uniform in serving as a player and manager of the Midland, Mich. Explorer's men's major fastpitch softball team.

Midland was one of six teams competing in the Ashland Invitational over the weekend at Brookside Park.

Scott, now 39, played in the Ashland City Tournament at age 14 so he got his feet wet in the sport at a young age.

More: Top men's fastpitch softball teams set to play at Ashland's Brookside Park

"I went with Coors Light to my first-ever men's tournament out of state in Petoskey, Michigan when I was 15," Scott said. "I like the pace of play. It's a quick game and ever since I started playing, when I started playing with my brother and Mark Hastings on Coors Light, what intrigued me was we were playing against the best teams and the best players in the world. And I loved that."

Scott says he also enjoyed the travel aspect.

"New places, new people, and now 95% of my friends don't live in the United States," he added. "All the people I've met and played with over the years, it's been great."

Scott says it's been a bit different as a player-coach with Midland.

"I played for Midland years ago when I was younger, I played on their Junior World Tournament Team that they had, and it just kind of went from there," Scott said. "One of their coaches walked into our dugout, and I didn't know him, and he didn't know me and asked me how old I was, and I said 19. He said to show up at such and such park for the 20 and Under World Tournament. I showed up, and it was the Midland Junior Team.

"That's how I got to know them back then, then I played for the Midland Explorers a couple of times, but now it's a different regime because all of those guys that played back then don't play anymore and the coaches have changed," he added. "Now I'm the coach. It's kind of gone full circle from being the low man on the totem pole, the first guy off the bench, whatever you want to call it, to now running pretty, much 75% of everything. But I like it, it's nice."

As far as Ashland goes, other than Nick McCurry, who is an assistant coach with the high-powered New York Gremlins, Scott is the lone guy from town still competing at the major level.

"There's a group of guys who come out of the Kidron League that go and play in probably four or five tournaments right now, which is great to see because I'm not getting any younger," Scott said. "And they've played some good talent, they're getting better, and they want to get better, that's the great thing.

"Too many guys, especially in softball over the years, have been tremendous talents in athletics in baseball, and trying to get them to come out and play softball," he added. "They go one weekend, they go 0 for 3, 0 for 6, can't figure it out, and they just quit, they can't handle it. And that's what I like about these young guys out of Kidron. They've got the bug; they've got the gist that they're not going to be superstars right away. It takes a lot of time just to be adequate."

In that respect, Scott says you have to have an appreciation of the sport.

"We've got guys throwing an 89-mile-an-hour drop ball or 85 on a rise ball, and they're not telling you what they're going to throw," Scott said. "It makes it difficult. But these young guys are starting to get it.

"I'll coach as long as anyone will have me. I love coaching," he added. "It keeps you in the game, it keeps you moving, and I've got a lot of energy so it doesn't bother me. It's a lot of fun."

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Craig Scott: The last of a dying breed of local fastpitch softball players